sleight of hand

• slight of hand (misspelling), sleight-of-hand

From Middle English slegthe of hande, sleght of hond, equivalent to sleight +‎ of +‎ hand.

Compare Old French léger de main (cf. the contemporary French léger de main and the contemporary English legerdemain).^[1]

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sleight of hand (countable and uncountable, plural sleights of hand)

1. The required manual dexterity behind magic tricks and illusions.
2. A performance of such skill.
3. (by extension, idiomatic) Any form of skillful deception.